RTFI!
Lawyers hire experts all the time. Most of the experts are doctors. Good lawyers provide detailed instructions to the expert. These usually set out the facts we want the expert to assume, the issue for the expert to comment on, some formatting guidelines, and a deadline.
Every such letter insists that the expert read the whole set of instructions before starting the report. Most such letters to doctors (and physios, etc.) ask the expert to do a complete exam of the plaintiff before writing the report. It’s completely useless for the doctor to write a report, then attend trial, and be defeated by the questions: “Did you examine the patient before forming your opinion?”
Our courts have become more and more strict on what is acceptable in an expert report. Gone are the days of experts blathering on for a hundred pages, with vague statements scattered randomly through the dense and boring ramble, faintly relevant to the case. Judges expect more: clear, short, direct answers to clear questions. Was the Plaintiff hurt in the crash? What were the injuries? Is the Plaintiff still hurt/disabled by the crash? Will the Plaintiff be disabled into the future? What treatment/assistance does the Plaintiff need, and for how long? Clear questions, needing clear answers.
We still run into doctors who think legal work is money for nothing. One such doctor recently demanded $3,300 from us. He ignored the instructions in our 11-page letter – including those in bold, bold italics, and ALL CAPS BOLD. He ignored the 150 pages of attachments we asked him to read. He wrote a report without having seen the patient in over three months and without ever having done a full physical examination. His report was littered with factual errors – not surprising, since he’d never examined the patient.
A complaint to the College of Physicians resulted in the doctor blaming us, blaming the press of time, blaming his own lack of experience. Blaming everything except his own failure to RTFI!
The College of Physicians found this doctor: “failed to meet the expectations of the practice standard…[and] applied poor judgment when disregarding the specific instructions…” The College found that: “Dr. [X] could not have authored the medical-legal report adequately and objectively without having performed the physical assessment…” which we had instructed him to carry out.
In the result, that doctor has a discipline letter on his permanent College file. Meanwhile, the Plaintiff has no expert report. He’s had to switch doctors. The lack of a report has harmed the Plaintiff’s case. All because this arrogant doctor figured he could wing it and pocket $3,300 for nothing.
We checked. He’s not a member of Dire Straits. So, he doesn’t get money for nothing.
At Clear Legal we have been making things clear since 1990. Clear instructions and clear consequences.
